Lagow Theater

4310 S. 2nd Avenue,

Dallas,
TX75210

The Lagow Theatre, an 800-seat house by architect Raymond F. Smith opened in June of 1948 as an African American theater. Veteran theater owner M.S. White was eligible to re-enter the movie exhibition business and he ran the Lagow. When White sold his White, Dal-Sec, and Forest theaters to Interstate, he entered into a 10-year non-compete situation. Just months later, White would add the Plaza Theater to his portfolio with new partner Walter Armbruster of the original Maple Theater. The Lagow switched to mainstream suburban fare beginning with Gone With the Wind on Dec. 7, 1949 and continuing for almost eight years.

The Lagow was retrofitted in 1953 with a curved screen to show some of the era’s widescreen formats starting with “Salome” on July 18, 1953. And like the Plaza, this theater ended up in the hands of Ruth Wafford and J.T. Orr as the suburban theater’s fare produced sluggish results in the era of television.

After the April 26, 1957 double feature of “Shake, Rattle and Rock” and “Runaway Daughters, it appears that the theater was closed. It was then reopened as an African American House soon thereafter. In 1976, the Lagow experimented as a martial arts theater showing films including a double-feature of Death Machine and 7 Blows from the Dragon. In the 2010s, the Lagow continued its service as a church.

The recent opening of the Lagow Theatre was noted in the June 19, 1948, issue of Boxoffice. The independent house, owned by M.S. White and Walter Armbruster, was designed by architect Raymond F. Smith.